Max Greenfield plays TV's most perplexingly crushable lothario on New Girl. Mickey Rapkin finds that the real Schmidt—a married family man—is a lot easier to love

It's hard to think of another recent television character that's scored with audiences quite the way Schmidt has. On Fox's New Girl, Max Greenfield's Schmidt is the lovable wannabe ladies' man, a kimono-wearing man-child who, at his core, really just wants to nurture and be nurtured. He's so endearingly absurd, so instantly quotable—there's already a quickie book of Schmidtisms, The Douche Journals—that it's sometimes hard to know where the character ends and Greenfield begins. Greenfield recently taught two SoulCycle spin classes for charity, complete with a power-pop playlist and confessions like "I tried to get the bangs like Bieber once, but it doesn't work with this Jewish hair"—which seems like a very Schmidt thing to do. But there are some notable differences. For one, Greenfield, 33, is happily married, to Tess Sanchez, a TV casting director. He's also father to their three-year-old daughter. And before New Girl hit, he happily played Mr. Mom for months. It's tough to imagine Schmidt changing diapers. Here, Greenfield attempts to further separate himself from his TV (alter) ego.

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ELLE: Do women expect you to be like Schmidt?

Max Greenfield: I don't know. I'm very married.

ELLE: What does "very married" mean? Is there an in-between?

MG: If you knew my wife, you'd be like, "Yeah, you're very married." She runs the household. I refer to her as "the greatest director I've ever worked with."

ELLE: Would she mind you talking about her this way?

MG: She'd be like, "Well, it is true." We went to the Emmys, and she was like, "Don't tell people that I make lists for you."

ELLE: Wait, she makes lists for you?

MG: Yeah, like chores. Then the first interview we're doing at the Emmys, she goes, "Well, I make lists, and he does them!" I was all turned around.

ELLE: Was it hard to meet women when you were a struggling actor in Los Angeles?

MG: I think L.A. gets a bad rap. L.A. is the same as everywhere else. There are people looking for the wrong shit everywhere.

ELLE: How old were you when you got married?

MG: I was 28, 29? We got engaged on our five-year anniversary. I remember that week I was like, "Man, if I get her anything other than a ring…."

ELLE: Was she pressuring you?

MG: No. I wanted to do it. But you're terrified. For a girl, the wedding is when you're married. For a guy, it's when you get engaged. [Laughs] It takes a real aggressive human being to back out between the ring and the wedding. I don't have that in me.

ELLE: You're in crazy shape these days. Does your wife treat you differently when you're ripped?

MG: She doesn't care. I started going to CrossFit a few years ago. My body started changing in ways that made me think, Oh my God. I'd come home and be like, "Honey, look! Check out my fucking traps."

ELLE: At the end of last season, Schmidt broke his penis and needed to wear a "penis cast." What did you make of that?

MG: By that point, it was par for the course.

ELLE: Ever ask to make the cast bigger?

MG: I had no emotional connection to it.

ELLE: You've been a guest editor for Gwyneth Paltrow's website, Goop, on a few occasions. She once described you as "the kind of guy you lusted after at your cousin's bar mitzvah." How did that make you feel?

MG: That's the greatest compliment I've ever received.

ELLE: You have a daughter. Has fatherhood changed you?

MG: There was a chunk of time after my wife's maternity leave—like a four- to five-month span—where I didn't work and it was just daddy day care. Here's the thing: If men and women were cars, women would have a totally different gear.

ELLE: How so?

MG: They have a tolerance for [parenthood] that's unlike anything I've ever seen. My wife and I would get on a plane, and at hour three I'd start to panic. I don't know that I can take it anymore! My wife would be like, "Just calm down—Jesus!—and nurture the child."

ELLE: Do you worry about your daughter talking to boys one day?

MG: I try not to think about it. I want her to stay at home until she's 35. I can't imagine her being this weird almost-adult person and being like, "Dad, I hate you." [Pause] Oh God. That's going to happen.

ELLE: Was your wife impressed by your Emmy nomination?

MG: She'd seen me struggle for a long time in this business and get so close on so many different occasions. I think it was as validating for her as it was for me.

ELLE: Had there been an imbalance in the relationship while you struggled?

MG: This whole experience has been very validating. The results might not be there, but in the back of your head you're thinking, It feels like I'm doing the right thing. But it's like, how long do you wait for that to happen? I guess the best way to put it is that [success] is very relaxing.

ELLE: Success came to you rather late. Is there a part of you that wishes you could be out all the time now to enjoy it?

MG: I'm too tired, man. Between the hours and going to the gym—because I've got my shirt off on the show—and with my family and my kid, I've got time for nothing.

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